209 



DESCRIPTION. 



CXCV. E. Cliftoniana W. V. Fitzgerald, n.sp. 



Arborescent ; branchlets stout, cylindrical ; leaves opposite, sub-opposite or alternate, narrow-lanceolate, 

 straight or falcate, acuminate, tapering into the petioles, veins fine, very divergent, parallal and almost 

 concealed, the intramarginal one confluent with the edge ; flowers pedicellate, 3-5 together in an umbel of 

 which several form short broad terminal panicles ; peduncles and pedicels terete ; calyx-tube broadly 

 turbinate, very open; lid hemispherical, umbonate, much shorter than the tube. Stamens inflected in the 

 bud; fruit hard and globular, smooth and ribless, contracted at the summit, the rim not thick; capsule 

 deeply sunk ; valves four ; fertile seeds brown, terminating in a membranous wing ; barren seeds wingless, 

 small and narrow. 



Height 30-40 feet ; trunk to 15 feet ; diameter 1 foot. Bark persistent on the stem and branches, 

 dark-coloured, rough and longitudinally furrowed. Timber red, tough and hard. Leaves 4-5 inches long, 

 petioles above i inch. Pedicels i- inch or loss. Calyx-tube 3-4 lines diameter. Filaments white. Fruit 

 -J inch diameter. Fertile seeds 2 lines long, the wings 3 lines in length. " Desert Gum." 



Affinity — E. setosa Schauer. 



The specific name was given in honour of Mr. R. C. Clifton, Under Secretary for Lands, Western 

 Australia. 



RANGE. 



Mount Anderson, Grant Range (W.V.F.). In sandy soil overlying sandstone. 

 Extends to the desert country south of the Fitzroy River. 



This species, so far as is at present known, is confined to the Kimberley region, 

 north "Western Australia. In addition to fragments from Mt. Anderson and Grant 

 Range, I have seen fragments bearing Mr. Fitzgerald's labels, " Packhorse Range," 

 " Summit of Bold Bluff." 



AFFINITY. 



1. With E. setosa Schauer. 

 I have only seen such material as I have figured, with a few duplicate leaves. 

 In the accidents of travel and transit some material of E. Abergicma F.v.M. (of North 

 Queensland) has got mixed with the Cliftoniana material, which has added to the 

 confusion. We must therefore throw responsibility on the author, who alone stood 

 before the tree and who described more material than anyone else saw. The " narrow 

 lanceolate " leaves come away from E. setosa, although the fiuits incline in that direction. 

 The leaves incline to the Corymbosse, but the globular fruits are a difficulty. At the 

 same time the twig impresses me irresistibly that it belongs to the Corymbosse. But I 

 must admit that there is often an element of doubt in a species where the material is 

 so scanty. 



